Wrapping up one year and preparing for the next seems to happen simultaneously with little time to breath in between. One of the best tricks to make your transition as frictionless as possible is to prepare. With the right amount of preparation and deep breaths, you might even be able to enjoy your holiday party this year.
Key Changes for 2020
New W-4 Form
After December 31, 2019, newly completed W-4 forms prior to 2020 will no longer be accepted. This means employees with a current W4 form from a prior year do not need to complete a new one unless their withholding details have changed.
Changes to the form consist of 5 steps which coincide with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that went into effect, suspending the use of personal exemptions.
CalSavers Retirement Program
Starting in 2020 CalSavers will help extend retirement savings options to millions of workers in California. The program is currently open for registration and deadlines enforcing the initiative will begin to rollout over the next few year.
Businesses with 5 or more employees will be required to either offer a private retirement savings plan or enroll in CalSavers in order to comply with California Senate Bill 1234.
The program is free for employers and employees pay an asset based administration fee of less than $1 for every $100 in their account per year.
USDOL Overtime Rule
Starting in 2020 1.3 million more workers will be entitled to overtime pay. The USDOL raised the minimum salary threshold from $455 per week to $685 per week. A significant enough raise to have a major impact on organizations. On the bright side, employers are now allowed to satisfy up to 10% of salaries with non-discretionary bonuses and incentive pay.
California Sexual Harassment Training Deadline Extended
In 2018 California lawmakers put forth a requirement that businesses with 5 or more employees must provide sexual harassment training to all employees by January 1, 2020. However, the business community has spoken up and been heard by Governor Newsome in a request to extend the deadline. Employers now have until January 1, 2021 to provide sexual harassment prevention training to all employees.
What does this mean for employers?
The signing of SB778 not only extended the deadline but has clarified questions around the new sexual harassment prevention training law.
By January 1, 2021 employers with 5 or more employees are required to provide:
- at least 2 hours of classroom or other effective interactive training regarding sexual harassment prevention to all supervisory employees
- at least 1 hour of classroom or other effective interactive training regarding sexual harassment prevention to all nonsupervisory employees
SB778 requires that employers must repeat training every 2 years with each employee and provide new employees with training within 6 months after the hire date.
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